Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has two sons in the fray in the upcoming Assembly election in Bihar, their constituencies separated by the waters of the Ganga, their fates connected by the powerful family that is a political boon for one and a burden for the other.
Bihar Assembly election Live update on October 22
The younger son, Tejashwi Yadav, 35, is the heir apparent and an RJD candidate from the Raghopur constituency, while his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, 37, is a Janshakti Janata Dal candidate from the Mahua seat, both located in Bihar’s Vaishali district. The bitter family feud caught the spotlight again this week, as the younger son filed his nomination papers with the presence and blessings of his extended family, while they were conspicuously absent in the case of his elder brother, who was ousted from both family and party earlier this year for his “irresponsible behaviour”.
Political heir
It’s a decade since Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav named his political successor by appointing Mr. Tejashwi Yadav, then a first-time MLA, as the RJD’s legislative party leader in the State Assembly. He has been winning Assembly elections from the family stronghold of Raghopur since 2015. In fact, the seat has stayed in the family since 2000, except for 2010, when then-Janata Dal (United) candidate Satish Kumar defeated Rabri Devi, Mr. Tejashwi Yadav’s mother.
Mr. Satish Kumar also belongs to the dominant Yadav caste in the constituency, and this time around, he is being pitted against Mr. Tejashwi Yadav as a candidate of the BJP. Former poll strategist Prashant Kishor, founder of the new Jan Suraaj Party, had earlier said he wanted to face off directly against Tejashwi Yadav and even launched his party’s poll campaign from Raghopur on October 12, in a fleet of luxury cars. Later, however, he named local businessman Chanchal Kumar as the party’s candidate. Mr. Chanchal, who belongs to the upper caste Rajput community, which also has a sizeable population in the area, was earlier a member of the ruling Janata Dal (United).
“This time too, Tejashwi Yadav will sail through and win the poll as he is son of none other than Lalu Prasad Yadav. It’s true he has not been giving time to the constituency but we cannot afford to dishearten Lalu ji in any way,” says sexagenarian Hardeo Rai, sitting at a tea stall early on Wednesday morning at Rustampur village in the Raghopur constituency. The consensus is clear among his fellow villagers: “The victory margin will be around 4,000 to 5,000 but Tejashwi Yadav will win with last minute campaigning.”
Poll prospects
A few yards away, Uma Shankar Yadav, clad only in a bright yellow dhoti and busy on his mobile phone, echoes the prediction. “Tejashwi Yadav will win.” Why? “Dikehiyega, jitega to wohi (you will see it, only he will win)… arre, he is the son of Lalu Yadav, aur kyon? (why else)?” he quickly counters.
A group of villagers at Jilwara Chowk, though, pointed to the role of Bhola Rai, the local resident who had initially brought Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav to contest in Raghopur for the first time in 2000 “by offering his own seat”. Today, Mr. Bhola Rai owns a palatial house near the Rustampur ghat, with an imposing iron gate.
Gajendra Kumar Singh, a Rajput from Ramdauli (Biddupur) village, has a different take. “The election this time is going to be tough for Tejashwi Yadav, despite being Lalu Yadav’s son. The voters of the constituency are largely not happy with Tejashwi Yadav’s ignorance and at the same time, they’ re impressed with the NDA government’s development work done here, like the newly constructed six-lane road overbridge on the river Ganga,” he says. Asked about the JSP candidate who belongs to his own caste, Mr. Singh says, “I haven’t even heard his name… He is nowhere in the contest.” There are almost equal numbers of Yadav and Rajput caste members in Raghopur.
Black sheep
On nomination filing day on October 15, Mr. Tejashwi Yadav’s entire family was present: his parents Mr. Lalu Prasad and Ms. Rabri Devi, his older sister Misa Bharti who is also an RJD MP in the Sabha, and close aide and MLA Bhola Yadav. All were missing when Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav filed his own papers a day later in the neighbouring Mahua constituency.
In May, the family patriarch expelled his elder son from his family and party for a six-year period for personal relationships and conduct “not in accordance with our family values and traditions”. In September, Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav formed his own political party, the Janshakti Janata Dal, announcing his own name as the candidate from Mahua along with 20 other candidates from other constituencies. He will compete against the RJD’s sitting MLA Mukesh Kumar Raushan and a local businessman Sanjay Kumar Singh who has been fielded by the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) as the NDA candidate.
“If today, Lalu Prasad appeals to voters to vote for Tej Pratap, or Tej Pratap announces that he is joining the BJP, he will win the poll easily. But voters here know that till the poll ends, it’s not going to happen, so the chances of Tej Pratap winning the election do look very dim,” said Nagendra Roy, sitting with a group of villagers at Nijhma Chhatwara, an upper caste Rajput dominated village in Mahua.
Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav won the Mahua seat in 2015 but shifted to the Hasanpur constituency in the neighbouring Samastipur district in the 2020 election. Mahua has a sizeable number of Yadav voters, along with Rajput, Kushwaha, Paswan, and Muslim voters. Former JD(U) MLA and Muslim community leader Ashma Parveen is contesting as an Independent candidate, and with 14 others.
‘Left in the lurch’
“Tej Pratap has been left in the lurch by both his powerful family and his party, and he may have to pay a heavy price for this in the upcoming election,” says Mr. Roy, expressing pity for the black sheep of the family.
Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav boasts that he was instrumental in bringing a medical college and hospital to Mahua on the Mahua-Samastipur road, which has a grand structure but is yet to be inaugurated. “Similarly, I’ll provide an engineering college here, if elected,” he told journalists in Patna a few days ago.
“Tej Pratap is a straightforward person and he means whatever he says… but the physics of power is not in his favour this time,” says Puran Singh, a farmer with an SUV at Kanhauli. At Gandhi Chowk and Jawahar Chowk in the constituency, voters seemed in favour of Tej Pratap but expressed pity for him. “Let’s see what happens… Had Tej Pratap been a fortunate child of his parents, his win would have been a sure thing,” a voter said.
Published – October 22, 2025 10:59 pm IST
